Prematurity Awareness Day!

Looking back now it is so hard to believe everything that our family has went through. I thank God every day that we are all together. We somehow had the strength to make it through some extremely hard times. Prematurity is something that I didn't know much about until it brought us to our knees.

My two little boys are growing more and more every day. Both of them have been given different paths to follow and through it all have shown us how to love beyond words. I think we have seen both sides of what prematurity can do to a family. How unpredictable the future can be. I used to hate to hear that no one can tell you what the future is going to be - strange how I find comfort in those words now. Bryce has shown us that you can't listen to those predictions- he has already proved them wrong on numerous levels.... and Cohen- you would never be able to tell that he was born just over 2 pounds.

I hope to help raise awareness... I would never want a family to go through anything close to what we have gone through. The sad thing is - another family will. Please help us raise awareness, we will be walking in March for Babies (April 2011). We invite you to walk with us or make a small donation to the March of Dimes.

One Year Home

We had a Halloween Party and One Year Home Celebration on Saturday (10/23). There were about 13 kids in total and I think they all had a great time. We had a mini trick-or-treat in our back yard - It was a hit! All of the kids had their buckets packed with treats.

Since we have last posted, we have started Bryce in a theraputic school program called the Perlman Center. He goes twice a week for two and a half hours. There he gets Speech, OT and Physical Therapy. The neatest thing is the access to medical equipment that we have there. He has been in standers and walkers - which he hated at first but LOVES now (the stander more than the walker)! There are four other kids in his class all ranging in age from 9 months to 2 years old. -- He is already making friends :) We are still getting in-home therapy --- as you might be able to tell he is very busy. Bryce weighs 17 pounds and every day is a struggle with his eating - but we will get there. We have a feeding specialist that will be coming in within the next week or so.

Cohen is doing great- He is a very typical 17 month old boy. He loves running everywhere and climbing on everything. He absolutely loves playing outside. He loves to tell us No and hates when we tell him No. I would say that is pretty much normal. Cohen is great with Bryce. He gives him kisses and shares his toys with him (Of course he trys to climb on him and get a little rough- but that is a brother). He weighs 26 pounds - shows absolutely no signs of ever being a preemie.

They are at such a fun age right now and we are enjoying every minute of it. Both have the greatest personalities - I am so proud of them!

What a difference a year can make!

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Sorry it has been such a long time since we have updated our blog. The boys have kept us more than busy over the past several months. We had a wonderful Christmas and New Year! The boys have been growing so fast and are doing great.

Cohen is crawling, feeding himself and pulls up to everything. We are waiting for him to take off walking at any moment. He is full of energy and has been showing us some of his mischievous side. At his One year appointment he weighed 23 pounds 13 ounces and is 30 inches long. He has made it to the 75th percentile on the regular growth chart. Our Pediatrician has taken him off baby formula (YAY!!) and he has fully transitioned to regular milk. He is not picky about food and eats anything we offer him.

Bryce has finally had a nice streak of normalcy. His shunts have been working like they should and he has been surgery-free since December now. If you would have told me a few months back that we would be out of the hospital for longer than a month, I would have never believed you. We have been so very fortunate that Bryce has had time to be a baby. He has been through so much in his short life that I couldn't be more thankful that God is giving him some "down-time." Bryce still has physical therapy once a week and works with a developmental interventionist twice a month. He is doing good, but still has a lot facing him. He doesn't sit up on his own or crawl yet, but we work hard to get him to that point. He is now 15 pounds 4 ounces and is 26.5 inches long. He hasn't hit the growth chart yet, but his line is going straight up. He is the happiest baby and smiles at the mention of his name.

We participated in the March for Babies this year! It was such a proud moment for us. We chose not to take the boys this year since the weather for that day was questionable. There were a total of 13 that walked with us (in our Family Team). As a team, we raised over $1,500. We saw people walking for their babies or someone they knew... We also saw people with t-shirts that read "in memory of." I realized that day just how lucky we were. We have been so blessed!

The boys had the First Birthday Party at our new house (failed to mention we have moved since the last blog- so much more room!). We had a monkey themed first birthday. The cake and cupcakes turned out so cute and the rain held off just long enough to have a very enjoyable party in the back yard. They both loved their cake and all the gifts they received.

I promise to keep the blog updated more often... With all we have been through as a family, I feel that it is very important to share our story. Hopefully we can bring a smile to someone's face or just provide a little inspiration to those who need it.

Happy Holidays!

We just wanted to be sure and thank everyone for all of their love and support over the past year. It has been very difficult, but both boys are finally home and doing well. We have started to make great memories and we treasure every moment!

Cohen is interested in just about everything. He is eating his big boy food- cereal, fruit and veggies. He is 17 pounds 14 ounces and gets bigger daily. He is playing, talking up a storm and craving some of Bryce's attention. He is such a happy baby and smiles and talks all the time.

Bryce had bilateral (inguenial) hernia surgery on December 10th. That bought us another night at Children's... The surgery went well and he never seemed to be in much pain from it. We were very glad to have that finished, another check off the list. He continues to do good. We have a physical therapist coming in every Monday and a developmental interventionist that works with his twice per month. He weighs 10 pounds 6 ounces....

We are so thankful to be where we are today. Given our history, we felt like this time would never come. December is also Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS) Awareness Month so we wanted to mention that. We hope in the future to give back, but for now we just wanted to bring it to everyone's attention. Don't take anything for granted this holiday season. Squeeze the ones you love extra tight this year. We sure will!

Home Sweet Home

I know that it has been quite some time since we have been able to update everyone on the boys. So much has happened over the past few weeks, we weren't able to keep the blog updated like we had hoped. 

Bryce had got to come home with us on our anniversary, September 29th... We couldn't have asked for a better anniversary gift than that! We spent the first couple of days just the four of us, we had waited months and months to be able to do that. Unfortunately over the next five days Bryce started getting sick. He had a high temperature, wasn't tolerating his feeds and just wasn't himself. I took him to the ER the Sunday after he got home and we found out that he had a staph infection from his last surgery at Children's. That news led to another 3 weeks in the hospital, we were devastated. Matt and I went back to taking turns staying with Bryce and seeing each other for just a few minutes as we switched spots.

Luckily, we were able to bring Bryce back home once the infection cleared... It is just a few days shy of being 2 weeks at home, the whole family... Bryce has done great! He is growing and eating like crazy. He has finally made his way to 8 pounds 10 ounces. He is starting to smile and laugh and play. He has  never had an opportunity to do this before. It has taken time and will continue taking time to show him that we aren't here to hurt him. We are so happy to finally have him with us at  home!

Cohen has been doing great.. He is 15 pounds 3 ounces and eats eats eats. He is starting to be very interested in toys and his surroundings. He is starting to teethe as well... It is so hard to believe that they will be 6 months old in just a few weeks.

Unfortunately we are entering RSV season and with the flu being so bad we have to keep the boys on lock-down. They are getting monthly shots to help their immune system fight off these types of illnesses through April. We can't wait to take them out and let them meet everyone... from family to friends. Of  course, I would love to show them off to absolutely everyone!

Life is starting to come together and we couldn't be happier. We want to be sure and thank everyone for helping us through this tough time. Also thanks to everyone who participated in the benefit for the boys, your support is much appreciated. There is no way we can ever repay or thank everyone enough for all that has been done for us and our two miracles!!! Thank you~

A short video of the boys

Who Dey!

Life has been very hectic. It is so hard to put into words what we go through day in and day out... What Bryce goes through...  He has had a total of 8 surgeries now and we hope that we stay at that number for a while. The last surgery he had was last Friday and so far things seem to be going very good. His shunt is now internalized and his 4 incisions are healing. The hope is that he will take a few more days to recover and continue to work on his feeds. Once he can get his feedings down he can come home. It is so exciting talking about Bryce and coming home in one conversation. We keep hope that all will go well and somehow he come home with us this coming week. If he doesn't we at least know that there is light at the end of this tunnel. He is up to 7 pounds 11 ounces and continues gaining.

Cohen has been doing great... He is really starting to develop a little personality and is starting to be very interested in everything around him. He smiles all the time and has to be talked to when he is awake. Two weeks  ago he was at 10 pounds 2 ounces, but I am sure he is way past that now. He goes back on Tuesday of this coming week for another check up. He has been a real trooper going with Mommy to see brother when Daddy has to work. 

Today we spent the last day together (all four of us).. until Bryce comes home that is. The hospital is now under a lock down because of the swine flu. We are no longer able to take Cohen along with us and only Matt and I can visit Bryce... not even grandparents can come anymore. The news would have been upsetting, but we are confident that Bryce will be coming home soon!

The boys got to watch their first Bengals game with Dad.... first of many. We all had our Who Dey gear on until Mr. Cohen had a little accident all over his and we had to change him. 

Thanks to everyone for their continues support and prayers....